Thursday, September 7, 2017

UAE-based Duplays, a key organiser of private sports tournaments, will be joining hands with top Saudi developer Al Hokair Group to break ground on the first of its three privately-owned football sports complexes at Jeddah.

Besides Jeddah, the duo will be setting up similar pilot projects in capital Riyadh and in the Eastern Province, reported Arab News.

The 100,000-sq-ft Duplays Dome project will contain about 60,000 sq ft of outdoor, ‘small-format’ pitches typically used for games of 5-a-side up to 8-a-side football, but which can be converted for bigger, 11-a-side games.

There is also 40,000 sq ft of climate-controlled space containing indoor courts that can be used for football, or for other games such as basketball and badminton, as well as a clubhouse, showers and changing facilities, stated the report, citing Duplays co-founder Ravi Bhusari.

Duplays, which currently organizes and runs corporate and private sports tournaments across the emirate, said the sports complexes have been modelled on the ‘soccer centers’ concept developed in the UK by companies such as Goals and PowerLeague.

“The type of construction we are using is a modular construction and they are quick build facilities,” added Bhusari.

The first center in northern Jeddah will “be finished before the end of the year”, he added.